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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

ALEISTER CROWLEY EVIL MAGICIAN OR SPOILT LITTLE RICH BOY?

by LINDA PRESTON

ALEISTER CROWLEY, EVIL MAGICIAN OR SPOILT LITTLE RICH BOY?Aleister Crowley achieved global notoriety in the early 20th century for his dabbling in the black arts. Indeed the British press were so outraged they described him as 'the wickedest man the world' a title that he revelled in!

But Aleister Crowley, a self-styled magician, poet and author, died a penniless drug addict who questioned his own warped philosophies. He spent his life declaring himself to be 'the beast 666' but was he just a spoilt little rich boy rebelling against a repressive religious upbringing? Or was he pure evil and capable of summoning the devil himself?

Edward Alexander known as Aleister was born into an ardent puritanical Christian sect. His father was the owner of a wealthy business empire of breweries. His strict parents indoctrinated him with the idea that God was all powerful, and that sins of the flesh would be punished by the very fires of hell. For the young Aleister, free will was not an option.

When he was 11 years of age his father died and the boy's feeling towards the church, and his family turned to pure hatred! He clearly was not the son his mother wanted him to be when he was found torturing a cat to try and discover whether it had nine lives.

His devout mother continued to disapprove of his life style and after finding Aleister aged just 14 in a compromising position with her maid on her very own bed was outraged! In disgust she referred to him as 'the beast'. The young Aleister was not in the least ashamed of the title and in fact embraced it. As the years passed he was expelled from many schools for indulging in a wayward sexual life and eventually caught gonorrhoea from a prostitute.

In 1895, Crowley was a student at Cambridge University, and began to publish sexually explicit poetry. A year later, a trust fund which had been set up after the death of his father matured, and freed him from dependence on his mother. Crowley left University and began to explore witchcraft, and black magic. Three years later he was initiated into a society called the 'Golden Dawn', which taught magic, alchemy and the reading of Tarot cards. He adopted the name of Frater Perdurabo (which is Latin for 'I will endure') and quickly rose through the ranks of the organisation.

Over the next few years he travelled extensively, and immersed himself in the occult, eventually irritating the members of the Golden Dawn because he felt they were not committed enough to magic. Desperate to perform an extreme ritual, Crowley bought a grand country house in Scotland on the shores of the famous lake of Loch Ness.

He then began to set about performing the 'Abra-Melin', a black magic ritual from the 14th century. The purpose of the ritual was to hold a conversation with the 'higher self' or 'Holy Guardian Angelâ€™. It had been declared such a dangerous ritual that no one had dared to attempt it for centuries. However, after six months of trying he was distracted by meeting a young society girl named Rose Kelly - and within 24 hrs they were married! The Abra-Melin was forgotten about and the newlyweds disappeared on honeymoon to Egypt.

Here Crowley practiced more black magic rituals in attempts to impress his new bride. Deep within the the King's chamber of the Great Pyramid, he recited the invocation of the occult ritual called Goetia. It had strange consequences.

Young Rose who knew nothing of the occult began to chant and went into a deep trance. The ranting she delivered were later turned into a book entitled which later had a huge print run entitled 'The Book of Laws'

Crowley soon tired of Rose and abandoned her to take another lover. This time it was a male writer Victor Neuberg. Together they travelled to Algeria and decided to perform an Enochian ritual to summon up Chorizon, the demon of the abyss. This rite was said to open the very gates of hell. There are no records of whether he actually managed to do this deed.

Eventually Crowley tired of Victor and abandoned him just has he had Rose. However, his intense relationship with Victor had convinced him of the power of sex magick. From then on, his two obsessions became 'sex and magick'

Crowley went on to become the world head of the Ordo Templi Orientis, or Order of the Eastern Temple, and he further defined his own religion 'Thelema'. He gathered many willing followers mainly bored young rich kids.

Stories of his depraved sexual acts began to circulate and the press fuelled the fire further. Eventually the publicity became so intense that he was forced to disband his temple and many of Crowley's former disciples went mad or committed suicide.

In 1923 whilst staying in Italy he published a book entitled 'Diary of a Drug Fiend' Benito Mussolini, who had his own place to come in history had had enough - he had him deported from the country.

Crowley unconcerned went on to publish more books such as 'Magick - In theory and practice', and 'Confessions' but his reputation was beyond repair. As the years passed he began to lose touch with reality. He spent his final years in poverty, penniless, and a pathetic figure living on the favours of his rich friends. He had also become a heroin addict. Eventually he died in Hasting, England in 1947, disillusioned and questioning the philosophies that he had built to escape from his oppressive Christian upbringing. It had all been for nothing! His black magic had failed to deliver him world dominance he craved!

LINDA PRESTON 2008 ** This article may be used freely provided appropriate author acknowledgement is made.

LINDA PRESTON WORKS AS A PROFESSIONAL PSYCHIC AND WRITER OF PARANORMAL ARTICLES. SHE LIVES IN THE NW OF THE UK AND CAN BE CONTACTED VIA HER WEBSITE AT http://www.psychiclinda.co.uk